After reuniting four years ago with more than 15 years in hibernation, legendary German heavy metallers ACCEPT have added yet another chapter in the story of one of the most triumphant career comebacks in the history of heavy music, this time with the band’s latest studio release Blind Rage.

For the third time since 2010, ACCEPT’s latest album has cracked the Billboard Top 200 Albums chart – this time at #35. Blind Rage also holds the #4 position on the Billboard Hard Rock Albums chart. In Canada, Blind Rage has debuted at #114 on the Top 200 & at #21 on the Hard Rock charts. Presciently, Blind Rage debuted at #1 on the German Media Control chart – the best possible chart entry in the career of any German music artist.

“Four years ago, we decided to start ACCEPT anew,” states the band. “Of course, we hoped to reach the fans of heavy metal and leave a few more marks in its history. None of us would have thought that it would come to this. We’d like to thank all who gave us enormous strength and the will to continue on order to make this happen.”

Given the exceptional quality of ACCEPT’s musical output, their steady climb up the worldwide charts comes as no surprise. Legions of ACCEPT fans around the world answered the call for new material, placing 2010’s Blood Of The Nations – the band’s first studio album in a decade and a half – at #187 on the American Billboard Top 200 chart. Months later, the band received a nomination for a Revolver Magazine Golden Gods Award in the “Comeback of the Year” category. In Europe, Blood Of The Nations entered the German Media Control chart at #4 and debuted at #12 on the Billboard European chart with the following additional worldwide chart entries: #7 in Sweden; #7 in Hungary; #9 in Finland; #19 in Austria; and #27 in the Czech Republic. The band toured relentlessly around the globe and invigorated audiences everywhere with the high-energy dynamics of their stage show.

ACCEPT’s 2012 album Stalingrad rode the tsunami of the band’s resurgence to a chart debut at #81 on the American Billboard Top 200. In Germany, the band repeated their Top 10 appearance by debuting at #6 on the German Media Control chart. In Europe, Stalingrad debuted at #17 in Switzerland, #32 in Austria, #25 in the Czech Republic, and #50 in France. The international demand for live shows continued.

Germany has always stood for innovation and invention, be it in the fields of technology, philosophy, classical composers, or contemporary music. With more than 300,000 works by German authors and musicians regularly published according to European Union statistics, few manage to overcome the staggering odds and succeed on an international level. ACCEPT are one of those acts who have reached the status of phenomenon – for what began locally in the mid-1970s went on to become a worldwide trademark that has maintained its elite status spanning close to four decades.

Next month, ACCEPT harnesses the driving force of their history to play four exclusive U.S. shows before heading overseas to launch their worldwide tour. Don’t miss it.

Special guests METAL CHURCH and RAVEN will play the September 12th show at the historic Saban Theatre in Beverly Hills, California.

“Blind Rage” is the 14th Studio – Album of the living legends from Solingen – a number that seems unreachable for musicians nowadays. It’s the dream of every artist. And if that was not enough: The newest Opus is the most successful chart album in the bands long history. “Blood Of The Nation” heralded the modern era of ACCEPT in, and now with “Blind Rage” the band climbed the throne of the charts. In the last four years, after their break of 14 years, ACCEPT released two new albums (“Blood Of The Nation” in 2010 and “Stalingrad” in 2012).

Both of them broke chart records and reached the top of international ranking lists, among other top 5 in Germany, top 15 in Europe and top 40 worldwide.

And now with the pole position in the official German Album Charts the band breaks their own record once again.

Statement Markus Staiger / Owner / Nuclear Blast: “We are proud and thankful to be part of ACCEPTs rebirth in 2010. With a number one position in the German Charts they climbed the to the top of Mt. Olympus. This is the reward of the consequent hard work of the band, their manager Gaby Hoffmann and Deville Schober and the whole Nuclear Blast team – together we stand strong!”

Statement ACCEPT: “Four years ago we decided to start ACCEPT anew. Of course we hoped to reach the fans of Heavy Metal and leave a few more marks in its history. None of us would have thought that we could reach number one in the official German Charts. We would like to thank our team, our label partner Nuclear Blast, Warner Distribution and Brainstorm Music Marketing, all of who gave us enormous strength and the will to continue in order to make this happen.”

What started in the mid 70ties as a worldwide trademark, maintained its status for over three decades.

ACCEPT is a phenomenon.

The German Music industry invests Millions of Euro every year to build up new acts. If you include the budgets for artist finding and development the funding is higher than any other, even higher than the development and research budgets of the automobile industry or the pharmacy industry. (Source IFPI). Still only a vanishingly low amount of German artists manage to be internationally successful.

ACCEPT is an inherent part of the international market, ranks among the biggest music exports from Germany and has influenced many innumerable bands both nationally and internationally.

The release of their new album “Blind Rage” was on the cover of the most influential Rock magazines, anywhere from Brazil to Sweden. Adequate to the resonance is the upcoming tour: Beginning this Fall ACCEPT will be touring the US, Asia, Australia andEurope for the fourth time. ACCEPT was a celebrated headliner at the biggest Heavy Metal Festival in existence, WACKEN OPEN AIR, as well as the WOODSTOCK Festival in Poland, that broke every record with more than 750.000 visitors from every subculture and genre.

The history of ACCEPT is even more unique: there are no drug scandals, no alcohol problems, no sexcapades, nothing for the boulevard press to write about – their personal history is as clean as the water from the mountains. The music stands alone and all for itself. An ACCEPT concert is a storm of Heavy Metal that lasts for hours, the real force of Rock’n’Roll, where the art of the music is the only thing that counts.

ACCEPT was never, in the whole history, influenced by any musical trends or marketing orientated actions, there were no artificial radio singles or fictional media stories, no multimedia show with LED – screens.

In the words of the online platform from N.TV: “ACCEPT is recreating the spirit of the 80ies without losing the power and the driving force behind it. The art of staying true to oneself without being repetitive pays of, and has so for years.

In the modern era of one hit wonders, fast pace trends, V.I.P. news, the fanatic obsession for scandals, ACCEPTs down to earth way is the true secret behind their success. True to the roots!

Beginning of September ACCEPT kicks off their extensive world tour. The dates are the following:

There is always a sense of excitement for yours truly when a new Accept record is imminent. Having been a fan since my pre-teen years, well over thirty years ago, the German quintet have and always will, hold a special place in my metal heart, so, as you can imagine, the arrival of “Blind Rage” has got this heart beating as fast as a shark… sorry I couldn’t resist!

Fans of the band will know what to expect from “Blind Rage” but for those of you who are still unfamiliar, I need only say two words “HEAVY METAL”!

This Accept’s 14th studio album and the third (in five years) to feature the excellent current line-up of Wolf Hoffmann, Peter Baltes, Herman Frank, Steffan Schwarzmann and Mark Tornillo. Out of the three Tornillo fronted albums, “Blind Rage” brings back that classic Accept sound of old more than any but with a naturally 21st century feel.

Opening track, “Stampede” is exactly that. A charging sonic attack of big riffs, big vocals and those classical flavoured Wolf Hoffman solos, an obvious future show starter…one hopes? “Dying Breed”is next up and pays homage in its lyrics to both influences and counterparts of days gone by. Listen to the lyrics and see how many references you can spot? “Dark Side Of My Heart” harks back to the“Metal Heart” era with its “Up To The Limit” similarities.

Accept

“Fall Of The Empire” slows it down a tad all brooding chugging riffs and the oh so familiar chanted background vocals. “Trail Of Tears” ups the tempo again with a riff that cements the theory that Accept were indeed one major influence on the whole speed/thrash genre. “Wanna Be Free” is the band looking at the state of affairs in the world whereas “200 Years” highlights what will inevitably happen if we don’t take note? Both tracks naturally delivered in crunching metal fashion.

“Bloodbath Mastermind” will have you flooring the pedal in your car and banging your heads ‘til your necks are breaking whilst you do so. “The Curse” will take you back to their “Russian Roulette” era which I personally hear referenced a lot on “Blind Rage”, which is no bad thing as I have a fondness for that album, it was back in ’86 on that tour that I first got my live Acceptexperience. Closing track “Final Journey” is another fast-paced delight which literally had me jumping for joy as Wolf Hoffmann has once again incorporate a fabulous piece of classical music into his solo. This time around it’s Grieg’s “Morning Mood”…a welcome return Herr Hoffmann.

“Blind Rage” is Accept doing what Accept do best, powerhouse riff-laden melodic heavy metal. If it ain’t broken…don’t fix it. Easily a contender for album of the year.

Teutonic thrashers Accept found new life in 2009, reforming with New Jersey born vocalist Mark Tornillo, a man whose vocals came close enough to Udo Dirckschneider’s to make the world forget the lilliputian singer’s departure and – pun intended – accept Accept again. Two highly critically acclaimed albums followed, and here in 2014 the band has once more chosen Andy Sneap to record their latest barnstormer. Entitled Blind Rage, the new album sees the band even farther removed from any vestiges of instability that may have plagued them in years past.

At this point Accept have proven that with their music, you know what you’re going to get. Wolf Hoffman (guitar) and Peter Baltes (bass) have been writing music together since about 1976, if not further back, and in spinning Blind Rage, it is evident that they do not waste their time with fluff. Opening song ‘Stampede’ starts thing off in tight, speedy fashion, putting the foot on the gas pedal as Tornillo squalls and bellows his way through Accept’s gritty brand of street thrash. The Sneap production sheds decades off their sound while also shredding the riffs up sharp as knives. A gang-vocal chorus give-and-take with Hoffman and Tornillo lines this song up as a future live favorite. Accepthas a penchant for following up a fast-paced opener with a slower sophomore track. The new album is no exception. Lyrically a clever story of metal’s evolution expressed in classic album titles, ‘Dying Breed’ has a denim-clad attitude and comes off as a hymn to all that is good and pure about heavy metal music. Fun, rousing, and a proper ode toAccept’s fellow warriors who helped begin it all.

After so many years in the game, it is nice to see a band as venerable as Accept still make an impact. ‘Dark Side of My Heart’ has a little slice of fellow Germans Helloweento it, rife with melody and a classic-rock styled chorus. A more melodic sound encapsulates a good deal of Blind Rage, in fact, especially in ‘Trail of Tears,’ an album highlight filled with memorable breakdowns, Stefan Schwarzman’s mean double kick drums, and a once again Helloween-like chorus. Like Testament and Manowarbefore them, Accept takes a stab lyrically at one of America’s most shameful black marks on its own history. Slow burning, bar room pseudo-ballad ‘Wanna Be Free’ is sure to get emotions up, with its dreamy melodies and message of hope in a world of violence. Accept is so convincing in their delivery, it is difficult not to get invested emotionally while blasting this album.

‘200 Years’ is a cosmopolitan, somewhat safe song mid-track listing; it gets swallowed up by the excellent ‘Bloodbath Mastermind.’ This one bleeds classic Accept, and will please fans old and new. ‘From the Ashes We Rise’ is another strong fist-pumper, lamenting the state of the world with classic metal hooks and a rousing singalong chorus. They avoid sounding at all depressing with their message that no matter what happens, we will get up and we will survive. Quite uplifting and well-wrought. ‘The Curse’ is a little bit of the same as far as vibe and delivery, but lacks a little bit in the effectiveness department. Closer ‘Final Journey’ ratchets up the speed and the heaviness, assuring that Blind Rage goes out on a very high note.

When bands have been in existence as long as Accept has, it becomes very easy to criticize their later efforts. Accept is not reinventing their style with Blind Rage. Instead they are going for the throat with some downright chugging, power-rich heavy metal anthems. It is their honesty and dedication to the craft which keeps them relevant. It is their awesome delivery and strong vocal attack which elevates them above any sort of dotage. Blind Rage is another strong addition to their canon, one fans of hard rock, thrash, and classic metal should be sure to check out.